Rubber process and product



y 1938- T. L. SHEPHERD 2,122,727

RUBBER PROCESS AND PRODUCT Filed Feb. 28, 1936 J ffAep/w c' PatentedJuly 5, 1938 STATES PATENT QFFEQE Application February 28, 1936, SerialNo. 66,308 In Great Britain April 6, 1934 10 Claims.

This invention is a continuation in part of my main application No.11,720 filed the 18th March, 1935, and relates to elastic rubberthreads-or yarns which are intended to be subsequently used in themanufacture of fabric, clothing, lacework. and the like or parts thereofor for wearing apparel of any description.

When rubber threads are to be led into a loom or knitting machine so asto be formed into a fabric, it is very often diflicult to control therubber threads because of the extensive and variable stretch that theypossess and the result of this capacity of the thread results in thefabric when completed having a non-uniform surface appearance or causesshirring and other defects in the finished material.

According to the present invention I provide a rubber thread which isinextensible during the manufacture into a fabric, but can be treatedwhen in the fabric so as to restore the elasticity.

The invention will be pointed out in the accompanying claims.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference tothe accompanying drawing, in which:-

Figure 1 is a section of a thread consisting of core and sleeve.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of a'coating device.

The rubber thread g assumes a tubular form around a core in of materialwhich is of a friable character which tends to maintain the rubberhollow thread g inextensible whilst it is passing into the loom andbeing formed into a fabric; during the subsequent finishing operationsupon the fabric the core h. in the various threads will be broken up andthe cohesion of its particles destroyed. In this way the fabric willobtain the stretch that it should, when finished, possess.

The normal finishing operations applied to the.

fabrics in which the threads are incorporated,

- such as are usual in a dyeing or bleaching works, e. g., rubbing orwringing, will in most cases break up into fine particles the coreinside the rubber strands, but to ensure that the core is broken up, thefabrics are thoroughly manipulated and may be beetled for this purpose.

I have found that glass provides a core which is amply brittle. Othermaterials are glue and gelatine and similar materials which on theapplication of heat for instance when in the fabric will become dry andbrittle and allow themselves to be mechanically broken up. A third groupis the thermo-hardening resins which before the application of heat arepliable to a certain degree and on application of heat become brittleand capable of being destroyed by mechanical manipulation.

Referring to Figure 2, a core b is drawn through a bath e, such bathcontaining a solution it of rubber, by which in this specification isincluded rubber in any suitable form, such as latex or a natural orartificial dispersion of rubber particles, or a rubber solution. Thecompleted thread is then drawn from the bath and led away for subsequentdrying and vulcanizing as desired. Such a coating of rubber may besupplemented by the core and its partly applied coating being drawnagain through the bath so as to increase or strengthen the thickness ofthe applied tube of rubber or other material.

In order to protect against cross-cutting, a coating may be appliedafter the rubber has been slightly roughened, knurled, or grooved, as inBritish patent specification No. 440,256.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A process for forming a fabric incorporating elastic threads whichconsists in forming rubber thread by applying rubber upon a continuousfilament of material which may be pulverized, incorporating the rubberthreads into the fabric, and then pulverizing the filament by mechanicalmanipulation.

2. A process for forming a fabric incorporating elastic threads whichconsists in forming rubber thread by applying rubber upon a continuousfilament of material which may be rendered brittle and pulverizable,incorporating the rubber threads into the fabric, rendering the filamentbrittle and pulverizable, and then pulverizing the filament bymechanical manipulation.

3. A process for forming a fabric incorporating elastic threads whichconsists in forming rubber thread by applying rubber upon a continuousfilament of material which may be rendered brittle and pulverizable,rendering the filament brittle and pulverizable, incorporating therubber threads into the fabric, and then pulverizing the filament bymechanical manipulation.

4. A thread consisting of rubber deposited round a continuous filamentof pulverizable material.

5. A thread as claimed in claim 4 consisting of rubber deposited round aglass filament.

' 6. A thread consisting of rubber deposited round a pulverizablefilament in which the filament consists of gelatine.

7. Athread as claimed in claim 6 in which the gelatine is in the form ofglue.

8. A thread consisting of rubber deposited round a 'pulverizablefilament in which the fila- -ment consists of resin.

